The invention relates to a so-called “safety” circuit breaker, for a handling facility for pressurized fluid, such as a facility for filling a motor vehicle tank with pressurized hydrogen.
To prevent the time needed to fill a motor vehicle tank with pressurized hydrogen from being too long, it is known to use a high filling pressure, which may reach up to 875 bars. In light of this pressure level, the connection between the hydrogen source and the tank of the vehicle must be tight.
It is not possible to rule out an untimely movement of the tank of the motor vehicle during filling, such a movement being able to result from a poor immobilization of the vehicle or an incorrect maneuver by the user. Such a movement must not cause an alteration or an exposure to open air of the line connecting the pressurized hydrogen source to the tank of the vehicle.
Similar problems arise in other facilities for handling pressurized fluid, in particular a facility for filling a motor vehicle tank with pressurized methane.
To resolve this issue, it is known from EP-A-0,900,966 to insert, in a pressurized fluid circulation line, a circuit breaker that includes a male element connected to a first line portion and female element connected to a second line portion, these male and female elements being intended to fit in one another and to be locked by balls mounted on the female element and received in a peripheral notch of the male element. These balls are received in housings arranged in a slide movable axially relative to the female body and pushed toward the rear of the female body by a spring. This resilient return is compatible with the withdrawal movement of the male body in case of emergency uncoupling. When the male and female elements need to be fitted back in one another, after uncoupling, the slide must be pushed back against the axial force exerted by the spring. This maneuvering of the slide requires the use of a dedicated tool, then constituting a subassembly by locking a first part of the female element on the male element of the circuit breaker, before screwing a second part of the female element on the subassembly previously formed. This maneuvering, which is relatively complex and not intuitive, requires the user to master the use of the aforementioned tool. Furthermore, the resilient return force of the slide toward the configuration where it pushes the balls back so that they perform their locking function must account for the friction exerted on the body of the male element, during the screwing of the two parts of the female element on one another. Lastly, this known equipment has a large number of parts, including two series of balls and a relatively large spring. This circuit breaker is therefore relatively expensive and large.
The invention more particularly aims to resolve these drawbacks by proposing a new circuit breaker that is simpler, more compact and easier to maneuver than the known equipment.
To that end, the invention relates to a circuit breaker for connecting two line segments of a facility for handling pressurized fluid, the circuit breaker including a male element and a female element that are intended to fit in one another along a fitting axis. The male element includes a male body defining a first inner pipe for the circulation of pressurized fluid, this male body being provided with at least one member for closing off a front end of the first inner pipe along the fitting axis, at least one first passage, radial with respect to the fitting axis and connecting the first inner pipe the outside of the male body in the uncoupled configuration of the male and female elements of the circuit breaker, a valve, movable in the first inner pipe, and a locking notch arranged on the male body. The female element includes a female body defining a second inner pipe for the circulation of pressurized fluid and provided with at least one second passage, radial with respect to the fitting axis and connecting the second pipe to a volume receiving the male body in the female body, as well as a valve, movable in the second inner pipe. The female body is also provided with several locking members movable transversely with respect to the fitting axis in housings of the female body, between a first radial position, where the locking members are engaged in the locking notch, for the axial locking of the male and female bodies in the coupled configuration of the male and female elements of the circuit breaker, and a second radial position, where the locking members free the passage of the male body in the female body. In the coupled configuration, the first and second radial passages are in communication, while a first sealing gasket and a second sealing gasket arranged, along the fitting gasket, on either side of the first and second radial passages respectively cooperate radially with the male and female bodies. According to the invention, a resilient return ring is mounted on the female body and surrounds the locking members, this ring being configured to resiliently return the locking members toward their first radial position in the coupled configuration and to be deformed radially, and resiliently, by the locking members during their movement, from their first radial position toward their second radial position.
Owing to the invention, the circuit breaker, which may also be called “breakaway”, is compatible with automatic locking and unlocking of its male and female elements, owing to a radial and centrifugal deformation of the resilient ring, this deformation resulting from the relative axial movement of the male and female elements. The locking of the male and female elements of the circuit breaker, obtained owing to a centripetal radial force of the resiliently deformable ring, is simple and intuitive to implement for a user, while being compatible with the high fluid pressures used in a pressurized fluid handling facility. This in particular results from the use of the first and second sealing gaskets, which are arranged on either side of the radial passages, including the radial passage of the male body and which make it possible to limit the effects of the pressure on the male body and therefore on the locking.